Football

Brown Busts Loose but Tech Falls Short to Salve Regina, 28-17, on Senior Day

Oct 24, 2009

By Mike Stoller, MIT Sports Information Assistant

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On Senior Day, the MIT
football team rolled out the red carpet honoring its upperclassmen
and had considerable opportunities to make an even bigger splash in
the game, before falling short to visiting Salve Regina University,
28-17, in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) match-up on
Saturday afternoon at Roberts Field.

Playing in his last home game for the Cardinal and Gray, senior
Division III All-America back DeRon Brown rushed for 246 yards,
including two touchdowns to keep the Engineers within striking
distance all day. Brown also set a new institute record with 41
carries, breaking the old mark of 38 set in 1993.

MIT had its chances to take control in the first half, after Salve
Regina opened the scoring on a one-yard keeper by Jeff St. Onge,
capping an 11-play drive, with Brendan Deasy adding the point. The
Engineers followed by manufacturing an eight-play drive starting
from their own 41, with Davey Hunt hauling in a 38-yard pass from
quarterback Kyle Johnson that brought the ball to the Seahawk 16.
On the ensuing play, Johnson rolled for 13 yards to the Salve
Regina three. But the Seahawks’ held the Engineers on four
rushing plays thanks to a big defensive stand by Austin Freeman,
C.J. Hein, Carlos Santos, and Nick Jentz.

Late in the first quarter, the Engineers started in good field
position at their own 46. But the 15-play drive consumed mostly on
the ground fell short when Hein picked off a pass intended for
Nathaniel Forbes in the left corner of the end zone and ran it back
36 yards. A penalty on MIT advanced the ball to the Tech 49. The
Seahawks then scored on a three-play drive. Trey Scales picked up
big gains of 15 and 23 yards, and St. Onge ran for 11 more for the
capper. Deasy’s kick made it 14-0.

The Engineers managed to get on the board late in the second
quarter as Brown capped a 58-yard drive with an 11-yard run. Brown
did most of the honors on the drive, while Sean Kelly, who shared
QB duties with Johnson, connected on passes of nine and 15 yards to
Mike Yurkerwich and Forbes, respectively. Corey Garvey booted the
extra point to cut the deficit to 14-7 at the half.

MIT started to roll again on the opening possession of the third
quarter, but Matt Peterson intercepted a pass at his own 25 to halt
the effort, after the Engineers earned a first down on a four-yard
run by Steve Yablonski that advanced the ball to the Seahawks
47.

Salve Regina chipped away on its next possession until exploding
for a 46-yard town toss from St. Onge to Nick Piscitelli on the
seventh play of the drive. Deasy kicked the point to give the
Seahawks a 21-7 lead.

The Engineers stayed within range when Peter Gilliland connected on
a 40-yard field goal, after a drive led by Brown, who carried seven
times on the effort, that started from the MIT 35. But the Seahawks
responded with an 85-yard march capped by an 18-yard pass from St.
Onge to Matt Shubert. Deasy’s point-after made it 28-10.

Brown then took off on his 58-yard TD score on the first play from
scrimmage, after Brian Doyle ran back the kick 13 yards to the MIT
42. Garvey’s kick closed the scoring at 28-17.

St. Onge tossed for 170 yards, including two touchdowns, on
16-of-23 passing, while Piscitelli had five catches for 91 yards,
for the Seahawks. Scales rushed for 96 yards on 21 carries, while
punter Jeff Bartek kept the Engineers at bay, averaging 35.8 yards
on boot, his longest of 44.

In addition to Brown’s big day for MIT, Forbes caught 6
passes for 53 yards.

Defensively, the Seahawks were led by Shane Lang, who had 15
tackles, while Nolan MCGarrrity and C.J Hein contributed 12 and 10,
respectively. Freeman, Santos, and Brian Bernarducci had nine
apiece, while Steven Benavides and Nick Jentz each recorded
six.

Gilliland led the Engineers with 13 tackles, while Aaron Fittery
followed with nine. Kristopher Weaver and Corey Garvey had eight
apiece, while Will Gibson and Alex Rubino each had seven.